NEW DELHI, June 27: A Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel leader expressed regret on Tuesday over the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in an interview aired on Indian television.

“I would say it is a great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy for which we deeply regret and we call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous, to put the past behind (them)...,” Anton Balasingham, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief negotiator, told private NDTV station.

Rajiv Gandhi was killed when a woman detonated explosives strapped to her body in the southern Indian town of Sriperempudur in 1991 while he was campaigning in the run-up to general elections.

India blamed the LTTE but the Tamil Tigers denied their involvement in the attack, which also killed 14 others.

As premier, Rajiv Gandhi was responsible for sending Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka in 1987 following an agreement with Colombo to help the military stabilise the country. Some 1,200 Indian troops were killed in subsequent fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels, forcing India’s pullout in 1990.

Balasingham Tuesday urged India to help resolve the bloody ethnic conflict between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government that has killed hundreds in recent months and left a 2002 truce in tatters.

“We are prepared to build up a new relationship with the Indian government provided she makes a positive gesture. We have already pledged never to do anything which is inimical to the geo-political interest of India.

“And so, if the past is put aside and a new beginning is made then there is possibility of India playing an active role in bringing a resolution to this conflict,” he said.

His call came as Sri Lankan peace broker Norway head into crisis talks on Thursday to try to salvage the island’s faltering ceasefire, as the assassination of a top army general underscored the threat of renewed war.

He added that Gandhi’s assassination was linked to his decision to send soldiers into Sri Lanka.

Tamil Tiger leaders expressed regret in 2002 for the assassination but stopped short of accepting responsibility for the “tragic event”.

“We had a negotiation with Sri Lanka and secured the withdrawal of the Indian troops in the 1990s and of course finally it was followed by the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi,” Balasingham said in the television interview.

India bristled at the LTTE leaders statements.

“The people of India cannot forget the dastardly crime committed by the LTTE or at their behest,” India’s Junior Foreign Minister Anand Sharma told reporters.

“Seeking our forgiveness would be tantamount to endorsing their philosophy of terror, violence and assassination,” said Sharma, who was a close aide of Gandhi.

He also lashed out at the LTTE.

“They still continue to believe in the politics of terror and violence and there cannot be any solution through violence, assassinations and military conflict,” Sharma said.

“India is for peace, stability and the unity of Sri Lanka and we have been supportive of the peace process and it is very sad it has got derailed,” the foreign minister said and ruled out any direct talks with the group.

The LTTE is a banned organisation in India.—AFP